Silent Rage




1. E.J. start telling us a bit about yourself and your music career and also about your acting career. When did it all start for you?

It started when I was about 15 years old. My friend Mark Hawkins & Tim Reilly (AKA Jesse Damon) were playing guitar. I was a huge KISS fan. They needed a bass player, PERFECT! We played & struggled on the Sunset strip. The I met Paul Sabu working on my first movie "Hard Rock Zombies". Paul was writing the music & I was performing it in the movie. Don't ask me how I got the lead in the movie. I had never acted before in my life. It was a blast. Anyway, Paul met Silent Rage & thought we would make a great team. He produced our first demos which eventually became our first record/CD "Shattered Hearts". That lead to Gene Simmons hearing the music as it was passed on from his manager. Gene called me, yes me ! Holly crap, the God of Thunder was talking to me & saying he wanted to make a record with Silent Rage. Cool! Next came our CD "Don't Touch Me There", produced by Paul Sabu & Gene Simmons.

When the depressing Grunge scene came into play, Silent Rage went by the wayside & eventually broke up after a gig in Hawaii with Scream.

That prompted me to get into doing a little acting while waiting for our music to survive. Anything to avoid a "real job".


2. Silent Rage got signed back in the 80'ties on the Simmons Records, own and founded by Kiss bassist Gene Simmons. How was it to get signed on to that label and how did the deal come about and are the band still today havin contact with Gene Simmons?

Well, I kind of mentioned a little of how the deal came about in the previous answer. To me, it was great to be working with Gene Simmons. He was a major influence on me & Jesse. RCA/BMG was the parent Company of Simmons Records. they really dropped the ball with us. I don't think they knew what to do with a real rock band in those days.

I have spoken with Gene recently. He filmed me at the NAMM show in California & we had a little discussion of life. He was kind enough to introduce me to a cute 19 year old fan. He really enjoyed watching me squirm since he knows I am recently engaged. He's still a funny guy. He also contacted me afterwards to say he could not make it to a show of my other band, "No Duh". It's a great, fun tribute to No Doubt. He also asked me if I might want to appear on one of his TV shows. Uh, yes...


3. How would you describe the area where you are living in for bands like Silent Rage getting gigs to play and are local radio stations willing to play any of the bands songs?

As far as gigs, it's getting better. They are finally getting some rock & roll back in Hollywood & the surrounding areas. As for local radio play, I won't hold my breath. They're not ran by program directors, they're ran by computers. God forbid some one puts something on the air just because it's good!


4. Silent Rage are about to release a, Missed Hits/Best Of, album which will also contain a couple of new tracks. When will that album be out and have the band found a label for the release of the album or will the band go for a release on it's own?

We have a record label that approached us on the idea. It's a new label called "Down to Hear Records".We were all for it. We can't wait to get some of those songs out there for more people to hear and to get back into the studio to write some new stuff.

It will mainly be released for downloads & soundtracks. But, it will also be available for limited hard copy sales.


5. The album will also feature a couple of special artists, who will these artists be and the new tracks, tell us a little about them to?

I can't yet reveal what special guests we may have. It will depend upon availability at the time of the actual recording.

We have yet to decide on the new tracks. Of the ones we are focusing on, one is a true story of some friends of ours that were murdered when we were younger. It's a crazy story of a crazy guy, stabbing, shots, ...Tentatively the new songs are "Mind of the Wicked", "Hard Habit to Break" & "Sinister Man." We may have each one of the original SR members (Mark Hawkins, Jesse Damon, EJ Curse) sing one song each....Maybe. We are working on having Paul Sabu produce for us.


6. Silent Rage was with Z-Records in Europe for it's last studio album. And knowing the way the label have been treating it's artists/bands and still does, I guess the band wont be working with that label again. Was the situation that many of the other bands were in with the label the same as with Silent Rage and are Jesse Damon, lead singer of the band, still signed to the label on a solo deal?

Jesse is not obligated to Z Records, thank goodness. Z Records has not been honest, forthright, considerate or trustworthy. They couldn't even get the CD cover right that they released for "Still Alive". I have never heard  the saying "the check is in the mail" so many times. I can't believe people really say that, but, if you want to hear it, sign with Z. They did one good thing for Silent Rage, they got us over to Europe so our longtime fans could finally see SR perform. If they pay any of the money they owe us for ALL the records they sold, I may forgive them. I am NOT holding my breath.


7. Is there currently any plans for Silent Rage to enter the studio and start recording a new album and what about label interest in the band?

Yes, we will do some more recordings....Always, even if it takes another 10 years!

We'll see what happens when the labels hear our music again...


8. What's your own personal point of view on todays music scene seen on TV and heard on the mainstream radio stations and what's your thoughts on the future of hard rock/aor in genreal?

I like some new stuff. As long as it rocks & people are really singing, I'm all for it. I like "Puddle..", "Saliva", "NIN"....

I don't really like these "fake" punks bands that pretend they are from the UK & sh*t. And how about a guitar solo every once in a while.

I think things may be coming around for hard rock/ AOR. It will be slow & never as big as the glory days! Good fun songs, girls, musicians, girls, music on MTV, girls....


9. So what does the current future plans hold for you on a personal level when it comes to the  musically  aspect and are there any plans for Silent Rage to hit the road for a tour sometime later this year?

Personally, I just want to play & perform music & I will continue until the day I die. A life well lived is a life worth living. I have great friends, family, dogs (some of those are included in the friends category).... Oh, I still wouldn't mind some more fame & fortune!

We have Silent Rage still alive & Mark Hawkins & me have our jam band, Band-X & our new project No Duh, which is taking us all over the State & the Country. Jesse has his solo project. Hell, bring us to the Netherlands. Three bands for a group discount!

We hope SR will have the support to hit the road in the near future. But, it has to be financially feasible. We're not 18 any more ;-)


10. Any last words to the people/fans out there here in the end?

Anybody that cares, we love you!

Please check out the web sites

www.SilentRageOnline.com
www.myspace.com/SilentRageOnline
www.JesseDamon.com
www.NoDuh.net
www.myspace.com/NoDuh